Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,350,000 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the March 15th total of 10,910,000 shares. Approximately 6.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Flowers Foods during the first quarter worth approximately $3,013,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 191,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,636,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new position in shares of Flowers Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Flowers Foods by 114.9% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,829 shares of the company's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 3,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.0% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,837 shares of the company's stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.00.

Flowers Foods Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:FLO traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $18.00. The company had a trading volume of 414,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,134,500. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.40. Flowers Foods has a 1-year low of $17.33 and a 1-year high of $26.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 19.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. Research analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.33%. Flowers Foods's payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.